4 Months!

Hollis will be 4 months old on Saturday! He went to the doctor today for more immunizations and his well baby check up. He's doing great so far! On Friday the 13th he weighed 13 lb 13 oz (near the 50th %) and was 25.25 inches long (between the 50th and 75th %). The doctor was happy to hear that he is rolling over from his back to his tummy so well and said he was just slightly ahead of the norm by about a week or two. He's been rolling over for about 2 weeks already, but perfected his skills this past week and rolls without much effort at all. Here he is at the doctor's office waiting for the nurse to come give him his shots.

The doctor gave us the green light to start rice cereal tonight! It was quite a bit more runny than I thought. The picture on the canister makes it look thick like grits, but it was pretty much the opposite. I even took the advice of a friend who said to use less breastmilk than it called for, but it still came out like water. Craig fed him first, then I tried a little bit before Hollis got too bored and fussy. The video doesn't want to upload for some reason, so I've put up a couple still shots instead. :)Besides rolling over, Hollis has some other new skills developing:

• Smiles at just about anyone when he's in a good mood
• SO many facial expressions!
• Pulls both feet up almost to his mouth
• More sounds when he "talks"- and the occasional squeal when he tests his max volume
• Reaches and holds onto everything (my face, my shirt, my hair, toys, etc.)
• Can take his paci out of his mouth and sometimes put it back in all by himself
• Starting to try to hold his bottle- although usually it's actually my hands that he holds instead. He held his bottle tonight for his last 2 ounces!
• Has grabbed a toy with his feet and brought it up to his hands
• Very, very soon I think he will start to laugh and giggle! He had done it a few times when tickled under his arm pits and has laughed in his sleep once too.

This week Hollis went to his sitter's house for 4+ hours a day, Monday through Thursday. I went up to my classroom to get some work done and helped with Student Orientation. It gave me a chance to get used to trusting him in someone else's care. It was also the week that Hollis hit a growth spurt and rolled over, both of which are messing up his once perfect sleeping habits! He woke up at different times each morning, and for the last 4 days woke up between 3-4am hungry as an ox. Hoping that he gets on a better sleep schedule once we adjust to the school year. Going back to work is bittersweet. I am a little bit excited, but also feeling a lot of guilt about not staying home with Hollis. I battle that guilt constantly.

He's growing up so fast. I am just trying to soak it all in (and blog about it when I can) so that it doesn't get lost in all the other wonderful memories we make every day. :)

XOXOXO